5 Effects You'd See from the Food Safety Bill

Safer food
and more accountability from food companies are the goals of the Food
and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act, which could be
approved by the Senate as soon as this week.

Its passage would lead to one of the biggest overhauls in food safety
legislation since the 1930s, when the modern approach to food safety
was established, said Robert L. Buchanan, professor and director of the
Center for Food Safety and Security Systems at the University of
Maryland.

Most of the legislation, Buchanan told MyHealthNewsDaily, involves
"making the 'machinery' of food safety work better behind the scenes.
Hopefully it will prevent recalls, outbreaks and contamination, and
provide the tools for the FDA to do a better job."

The aim of Senate Bill 510, sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), is to keep large-scale recalls
— such as the ones directed at peanut butter last year and eggs this
year — from happening again, said Craig Harris of the Food Safety
Policy Center at Michigan State University. Those recalls were due to
salmonella bacteria contamination, which sickened hundreds.

"As our food system in the U.S. has become more industrialized, and
the companies have become much larger in scale, now a peanut outbreak – a
contaminated peanut situation – can affect people in more than half the country," Harris said.

The new bill would increase the number of inspections at food
facilities, require hazard analysis and preventive control requirements
and give the FDA the power of mandating recalls, he told
MyHealthNewsDaily.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could bring the bill for a
procedural vote today (Nov. 17). It was put aside earlier this year
after Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) expressed concerns about the costs that
would be incurred by the bill's regulations.

If the bill passes, the House — which approved its own version of the
bill last year — and Senate will have to iron out the differences
before the bill is sent to the president for final approval.

The bill would mainly affect food producers, manufacturers and
distributors, but consumers' lives would be touched, too. Here are five
effects you might see:

1. You can put the Pepto away.

Because of stricter safety guidelines, you'll spend fewer days at home sick from contaminated food. All foods
will be required to come with a plan to evaluate and address potential
contamination hazards, Buchanan said. The bill also aims to increase
access to records of food-borne illness and improve the reporting and
analysis of them, he said. Laboratory accreditation groups will be
recognized so that food-testing labs need to meet a determined set of
standards.

2. You'll have a better idea of where the recalled goods came from.

Better tracing of high-risk food will allow the FDA and food
companies to pinpoint the sources of outbreaks, so companies can remove
contaminated products from store shelves. There also will be more
inspections of foods that come from other countries, allowing
more-accurate tracking of the sources of dangerous foods.

3. You won't necessarily see more recalls.

Most companies, to protect their brand, already comply with voluntary
recalls, so a spate of new recalls is not likely with passage of the
bill, Buchanan said. But the FDA will have the power to recall products
from the rare company that cares more about the bottom line than its
reputation, as well as the power to issue fines for violations of the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

4. You'll know the lettuce you bought has gone through more-stringent inspection requirements.

"The thing you want is smarter inspections," Buchanan said, and
inspection efforts that are focused where they're needed most. The new
bill will give the FDA power to decrease the amount of time between
inspections, and mandate yearly inspections of high-risk companies.

High-risk companies include those that have a poor track record
regarding inspections, as well as those that manufacture easily
contaminated foods such as oysters or fresh produce, Harris said. (Produce is high-risk because plants can take up contaminated irrigation water, he said.)

5. The price for that can of soup probably won't go up by much.

Although costs of food production may rise as a result of the bill,
the amount isn't likely to make a huge dent in most large food
companies' profits, Harris said, so the added costs shouldn't trickle
down to the consumers. For small companies and local farmers, the bill
includes exemptions and special accommodations, recognizing that some
companies may not be able to keep up with the costs of adopting new
safety practices.

Amanda Chan

Amanda Chan was a staff writer for Live Science Health. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.